Too much hydrogen is problem for biogas

Producing biogas can be a chemistry nightmare. NTNU researchers are helping improve the process.

Biogas may sound like an exotic kind of energy alternative to fossil fuels, but the primary mechanism that produces it — bacterial digestion of biological material — is similar to what takes place inside a cow’s gut when it eats grass. The important difference, of course, is that biogas can be made at an industrial scale, using a chamber called a digester.

A biogas digester excludes oxygen, creating an atmosphere that allows a group of different bacteria to consume biological materials and generate biogas. Most commonly, biogas digesters use waste products from agriculture and the aquaculture industry.

However, the chemistry inside the digester has to be monitored very carefully because the different groups of bacteria at work digesting the biological material in the chamber can be quite sensitive to even the smallest of changes. The trick is designing sensors that can detect these small changes quickly enough to do something to keep the bacterial balance in the digester — and thus biogas production — at optimal levels.

Jacob Lamb, a postdoctoral researcher at NTNU’s ENERSENSE strategic research area, is working on developing a hypersensitive optical fiber sensor that can detect one critical substance, hydrogen, in the liquids in a biogas digester.

RELATED ARTICLES

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) was the recipient of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize. In view of inflammatory statements by Donald Trump about the size of his “nuclear button”, an NTNU political expert says the message the Nobel Committee tried to send is more important than ever.

Hydrogen fuel cells can store and supply electricity, but are still developing as a technology. NTNU researchers are helping advance this approach to making the transition to environmentally friendly energy.

MORE FROM GEMINI RESEARCH NEWS

LOADING CONTENT

Research news from NTNU and SINTEF

Research news written for the general publicabout technology,energy and environment,science,fishand aquaculture, innovation, health, thesocialsciences and humanities.